Cynosurejobs Blog

Four out of every five companies are planning to hire MBA graduates in 2018, says the GMAC 2018 Corporate Recruiters Survey report, released by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).

Around 90% companies in Asia Pacific plan to hire MBAs in 2018—the highest share of any world region and steady compared with 2017.Among all respondents globally, 52% of companies plan to increase MBA starting base salaries this year. Around the world, MBA graduates continue to command a salary premium relative to direct-from-industry hires and bachelor’s degree hires.

“Over the past several years we have tracked positive trends in hiring of MBA and business master’s graduates,” said Sangeet Chowfla, GMAC president and CEO. “Graduates are commanding compensation premiums and companies are increasing starting salaries. The softening in the intent to hire numbers for the US and Europe reflects the global economic growth numbers we are seeing, and the prevailing political and student mobility issues.
In the Asia Pacific region, hiring projections have remained strong. From the overall analysis, we see that MBA hiring overall is strong, but we are seeing the mix shift geographically.”

The survey also found that US employers’ intent to hire international business school graduates has softened this year. Forty-seven percent of companies plan to or are willing to hire international talent in 2018, down from 55% that had such plans in 2017. In comparison, about the same percentage of European employers plan to or are willing to hire international talent in 2018 (65%) as 2017 (64%).

“This dip in stated intent by US employers to hire international graduates is potentially a response to the changes – or potential changes – to visa and immigration regulations,” said Chowfla. “Even though H1-B visa rules haven’t yet changed, there is a perception that they might change in the near future, and some employers may be waiting to see what will happen. The jobs market in the US right now is robust, and companies are constantly having to evaluate their prospects and how best to fill their available roles with strong talent.”

Graduates in data analytics are in high demand with 71% of responding employers planning to place recent business school graduates into data analytics roles in 2018. This puts data analytics among the top job functions employers will place new business school graduates into in 2018, alongside business development (74%), marketing (70%), and finance (69%).

For the first time, the survey collected trending data for Master of Data Analytics hiring. Overall, about half of responding companies (52%) plan to hire Master of Data Analytics graduates in 2018, compared with 35 percent that hired them in 2017. The survey found that hiring demand for Master of Data Analytics graduates is strongest among Asia Pacific employers, among whom 62 percent plan to hire in 2018.

About half of employers in Europe (50 percent) and Latin America (47 percent) plan to make similar hires.

The survey was conducted in February and March 2018, in association with career services offices at 96 participating graduate business schools worldwide. The survey responses were received from 1,066 employers in 42 countries worldwide who work directly with participating business schools.